Guess who's the married footballer given a gagging order to hide his sordid sex life (... and the other wanderers who make up the love rats' team)

Imogen Thomas: Says she was in love with the man with whom she had an affair

Yet another Premier League footballer has won a gagging order to suppress details of his sordid sex life.

The big-name player – described as a ‘family man’ – allegedly cheated on his wife in a six-month fling with topless model Imogen Thomas.

He met the 28-year-old brunette, who rose to fame as a reality TV contestant in Big Brother, in secret at a string of luxury hotels, it was claimed.

The famous footballer’s own agent described the revelations as a shock, saying: ‘This is incredible. I can’t believe it. He is such a family man.

‘I don’t know what to say, knowing the closeness of his family.’

Yesterday the player became the latest celebrity to run to the High Court to prevent the public finding out about his alleged philandering.

Meanwhile, Miss Thomas ran to PR guru Max Clifford, who was last night fielding lucrative offers for her kiss-and-tell story. He claimed Miss Thomas enjoyed a ‘relationship’ with the footballer, adding:

‘She says she was in love with him and thought he was in love with her.’

Mr Clifford insisted the model had come to him for ‘advice and guidance’ because she was genuinely upset the story had leaked out.

He said: ‘She never had any intention of talking about her private life.’

The High Court order bans the media from identifying the multi-millionaire star, meaning he joins a rogue’s gallery of footballers who have exploited the might of the law to hide their alleged marital misdemeanours.

Mr Justice Eady’s draconian ruling prevents the media from revealing any identifying features of the footballer.

In effect, it means fans whose sporting idols are raking in millions of pounds in sponsorship deals can never know if the star in the adverts they watch might be concealing a sordid secret.

However, despite the judge’s decision, it is likely nothing will stop a fevered guessing game in internet chat rooms as to the player’s identity.

When Miss Thomas was initially confronted at one of the hotels where the footballer was staying, she claimed she was either meeting her mother or was attending ‘business meetings’.

PRIVACY RULINGS - ARE THEY FAIR?

Privacy rulings have now reached the point where celebrities can make money from advertising and promotions based on a public impression of their character which is a lie, say lawyers.

Duncan Lamont, of City law firm Charles Russell, said: 'Privacy laws says people’s sex lives are their own business, unless they are giving a false impression. People are being misinformed.

‘I am surprised at the latest injunction because it may be that the footballer concerned is someone who has benefited from an image which he has cultivated, or which has been cultivated on his behalf.

‘There are personalities who are making money from the perception given that they are something that they are not. People are being misinformed.’

Liberal Democrat MP John Hemming, who has campaigned against superinjunctions, said: ‘Essentially, if you have £50,000 to burn you can now stop people telling the truth about you, no matter how murky.’

Asked who the late-evening business meetings were with, she smiled and said: ‘That’s confidential.’ But a friend of the model claimed she was ‘completely lovestruck’.

Welsh-born Miss Thomas has previously dated Tottenham striker Jermain Defoe and in the summer of 2006 had a six-week affair with comedian Russell Brand.

She even helped make a TV documentary backing Brand after the ‘Sachsgate’ scandal in which he was condemned, along with BBC presenter Jonathan Ross, for a stunt taunting veteran actor Andrew Sachs.

Miss Thomas worked as a ‘hostess’ in a
London hotel bar until she rose to prominence in 2006 in the seventh
series of Big Brother.

After being evicted from the Big Brother house, she carved out a modelling career and appeared topless in magazines such as Zoo.

She was a cover girl in Maxim
magazine and has also posed topless in the Daily Star tabloid, which
dubbed her a younger-looking Catherine Zeta-Jones.

Five
years ago, a holiday sex tape she recorded with a DJ boyfriend when she
was just 20 leaked on to the internet, which she said made her ‘feel
sick’.

The footballer
revelations come after a leading actor obtained an injunction to hush up
claims he cheated on his wife with the same prostitute who slept with
Wayne Rooney.

The celebrity allegedly paid £195 for the encounter with 23-year-old call girl Helen Wood – who then sold her story to The Sun.

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Premier League star wins gagging order over 'fling' with Big Brother's Imogen Thomas